1.09.2010

ETZ HAYYIM SYNAGOGUE IN CHANIA OF CRETE, GREECE BURNT DOWN BY ARSONISTS...

By NICHOLAS STAVROULAKISETZ HAYYIM DIRECTOR(...)We have tried at Etz Hayyim to be a small presence in the midst of what is at times almost aggressive ignorance. We have done this to such a degree that our doors are open from early in the morning until late in the day so that the Synagogue assumes its role as a place of prayer, recollection and reconciliation. In many ways we have been successful through this quiet presence – perhaps our ‘silent presence’ wears not too well on some and is even a source of annoyance to others. Often I have pointed out that we are perhaps the only synagogue of significance in Greece, possibly Europe, where there is little if any overt sign of protective security. Hand-bags are not checked, ID cards and passports are not examined, and one is not obliged to sign in. This character of the Synagogue must not change and the doors must remain open – or we have given in to the ignorance that has perpetrated this desecration. Our awareness of what ignorance can do to us will certainly determine how certain repairs are to be made – but at the same time we must be cautious about allowing ignorance to affect or determine the nature of our presence. We will have a heavy burden of funding the necessary renovations and we hope that you as either old friends or new ones will assist us.Any donations will be deeply appreciated and, of course, welcome.ALPHA BANK (Hania, Crete)Account name: Friends of Etz HayyimAccount # 776-002101-087154IBAN: GR74 0140 6600 7760 0210 1087 154Nicholas Hannan-Stavroulakis / Director Etz Hayyim Synagogue/ HaniaIn the USA, tax-deductible charitable contribution will also be received by the International Survey of Jewish Monuments (ISJM).Checks can be sent to ISJM, P.O. Box 210, 118 Julian Place, Syracuse, NY 13210. Write "Hania" on the memo line. 100% of all funds will be transferred for use by Etz Hayyim.

“... Independent production, handmade and filmed with many fights on the side of its creator, December Riots, comes to remind us the life we never lived, the fight we never fought and the reasons we got here, with bowed heads and humiliated lives ... " Chrisostomakis Laktaridis

FRANK CAPRA

"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream, it takes over as the number one hormone; it bosses the enzymes; directs the pineal gland; plays lago to your psyche. As with heroin the antidote to film is more film".

JONAS MEKAS

"In the very end, civilizations perish because they listen to their politicians and not to their poets".

JOSEPH LOSEY

"Film is a dog: the head is commerce, the tail is art. And only rarely the tail wag(-s) the dog".

ABEL GANCE

" It will now be easier to understand why I have come to create Napoleon, because he was a paroxysm in his time, which was a paroxysm in history. General Bonaparte lies at the edge of a maelstrom, a lucid observer, whereas the Emperor lies in the whirlpool, is dragged into it and loses his self-control.

Bonaparte is not dragged off by this current. He watches and observes; he is master of his fate. He can halt it should he wish to. Napoleon cannot. He has neither the time nor the means to do so. He must go where fate leads him; that is his tragedy, the one I shall try to compose with the music of light".

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

"Luck is everything... My good luck in life was to be a really frightened person. I'm fortunate to be a coward, to have a low threshold of fear, because a hero couldn't make a good suspense film".

STANLEY KUBRICK

"

Any time you take a chance you better be sure the rewards are worth the risk because they can put you away just as fast for a ten dollar heist as they can for a million dollar job."

GEORGE LUCAS

“You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don't have that kind of feeling for what it is you are doing, you'll stop at the first giant hurdle.”

STEVEN SPIELBERG

“I dream for a living.”

BRIAN DEPALMA

"The real trouble with film school is that the people teaching are so far out of the industry that they don't give the students an idea of what's happening".

JAMES CAMERON

"People have asked me if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future and my answer has been recently that I am pessimistic about systems and optimistic about individuals."

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PRESS QUOTES ON ANCIENT GREEK ANIMATED FILMS FRANCHISE

"Original and cool ... If you are lucky you will meet him on a big screen. "I IMERISIA (THE DAILY)

"...His name is Archaioulis (Ancient Greek) and it is next to impossible that you haven’t met him so far on a screen near you, unless the last few years you have not seen any feature film at all".ELEFTHEROTYPIA

«Archaioulis breaths a fresh life to the Greek cinema with his boldest new adventures. The Symposium was the first Archaioulis’ Greek short film that was so widely distributed with over 60 prints in theaters and, indeed, was a record number compared to most three, copies of which are the short films of the Greek Film Center are distributed. "Katerina Georgiou, I CHORA (THE LAND)

"The highly recommended work of director Dimitri Vorris ..."Robbie Eksiel, ETHNOS (THE NATION)

"An incredible film, that mocks all that oppress and depress us and are supposed to be so much in fashion, from food and trendy restaurants to the hysteria of the mobile phones ..."Elpida Skoufalou, "PANORAMA", ALPHA TV

"Little Ancient Greek returns to the 21st century with many ambitious projects."ELEFTHEROTYPIA

"An enjoyable animated film ..."AVRIANI

"Ancient immortal spirit! ..."Elias Frangoulis, MAD TV

"... Over 500,000 people came into contact with the creation of the Dimitri Vorris ... "MAD VOICE

"So Archaioulis, as Socrates, enters into new adventures for the sake of Olympic education and volunteerism, as dozens of new episodes are feverishly prepared ..."CHORA

"ARCHAIOULIS: A small film with a big dream"VRADYNI

"Taste ... Ancient Greece through an animated short! "FREE TIME

"And a quite original idea for a Greek cartoon by Dimitri Vorris ..."Vaso Kouzigianni, APOGEUMATINI